True Freedom: The Courage to Let Things Die
I met my client in the redwoods of the Oakland Hills. For our meetings, we hike together — moving through quiet trails, letting the rhythm of walking open the rhythm of conversation.
I’ve had the great honor of working with him off and on for over ten years. In that time, he’s left the tech world, built his own business, and grown into a leader who trusts himself completely.
Today, as we walked beneath the trees, he shared a story about negotiating a lease for a new store in a Santa Clara development. When the numbers didn’t align, he walked away.
When I Stopped Fixing My Mindset and Started Listening
We often discuss mindset—how to shift it, improve it, or upgrade it.
But recently, in a circle of interior designers and creative women, we tried something else:
We stopped trying to fix our thoughts and started listening to them instead.
Before the session, I had a panic attack.
It came out of nowhere—just a typical morning, walking my dog, and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. My heart was racing. A wave of dread moved through me, and I didn’t even know why. I had just read an email.
My first instinct was to push it away, to figure it out, to get out of it. But instead, I remembered what I would soon be guiding others to do.
So I stopped.
And I stayed with it.
Not to analyze it. Not to fix it. To be with the sensation.
And slowly… it shifted. Not because I changed my thoughts.
But because I was willing to feel what was there, without judgment.
That’s the space we created in the session.
We asked:
What thought do you wish would go away?
What emotion do you avoid?
What if you stopped the battle with it, and just let it be?